Hello to all. I have wanted to start a topic like this for years now but never got around to doing it. This will be really Florida based for me because this is where I have spent all my life. So what were/are those benchmark stations you tune into in certain areas just to see how drivable they are? For me, the benchmark from Orlando is WOCL 105.9. I always loved to see what cars could hear that station without much trouble in Palm Bay and St Augustine. I was always amazed at how many radios had trouble with that station in both of those areas. ESP ST Aug. But on the other hand, some car radios did really well. I remember the factory stereos in the mid to late 90s Fords and even early 2000s did really good with stations like that. I had a Phillips stereo that was the master at receiving WOCL in Palm Bay. I used to see how drivable that station was here in Brandon but now we have a 105.9 translator on so now WOCL is out of the question.
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Drivability of stations
- Thread starter austingrace
- Start date
I never had a car that had an FM radio that was that good, mine blew up on me. So my observations are with boomboxes, Superadios etcetera inside the car.
But one thing I've noticed is that most of the stations around here have similar terrain shadows, except for stations with transmitters 30 miles south of here, which are fringe stations anyway. It's curious to drive into a terrain shadow and tune around the dial and half the stations are all glitching the same way. Flip flip flip flip flip flip. It's FM's main weakness. But I know that car stereos with decent outdoor antennas can overcome that somewhat.
But one thing I've noticed is that most of the stations around here have similar terrain shadows, except for stations with transmitters 30 miles south of here, which are fringe stations anyway. It's curious to drive into a terrain shadow and tune around the dial and half the stations are all glitching the same way. Flip flip flip flip flip flip. It's FM's main weakness. But I know that car stereos with decent outdoor antennas can overcome that somewhat.
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rbrucecarter5
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WOCL is not the monster signal that now WQMP is, even though they appear to be co-located. 101.9 makes it all the way to I-10 in patches, and there is a really strong patch of it about 50-70 miles East of Tallahassee. WOCL - not there.
I do know that "102 jamz" was popular with the young people. I did several narrow ceramic filter mods on car radios for kids in Palm Bay, which took ordinary stock radios in cars and made them into DX monsters. Provided the car had a REAL antenna, not a nub, shark fin, or other compromised antenna. For me - with a Pioneer Supertuner 3D in the dash, whip antenna on the fender, Tampa / St. Pete stations were very dependable on the East Coast of Florida, giving a welcome variety of stations to listen to. Jacksonville stations were like locals in Daytona Beach, and when I moved to Palm Bay, some stations from West Palm Beach were very dependable. Of course my benchmark was WCIE 91.1 - a real difficult DX target from Daytona Beach. It went dark about the time I moved to Palm Bay so that was that. But its pattern was more dependable up North, I remember having a good signal on them in places like Keystone Heights.
Florida, of course, has sea breeze fronts that collide inland from both coasts, on rainy days, once the weather clears for the night, the whole band opens up in Florida, with virtually every station up and down the peninsula strong and clear. I don't know how long it lasts, but I have been up to 2 and 3 in the morning and the band was still open.
I do know that "102 jamz" was popular with the young people. I did several narrow ceramic filter mods on car radios for kids in Palm Bay, which took ordinary stock radios in cars and made them into DX monsters. Provided the car had a REAL antenna, not a nub, shark fin, or other compromised antenna. For me - with a Pioneer Supertuner 3D in the dash, whip antenna on the fender, Tampa / St. Pete stations were very dependable on the East Coast of Florida, giving a welcome variety of stations to listen to. Jacksonville stations were like locals in Daytona Beach, and when I moved to Palm Bay, some stations from West Palm Beach were very dependable. Of course my benchmark was WCIE 91.1 - a real difficult DX target from Daytona Beach. It went dark about the time I moved to Palm Bay so that was that. But its pattern was more dependable up North, I remember having a good signal on them in places like Keystone Heights.
Florida, of course, has sea breeze fronts that collide inland from both coasts, on rainy days, once the weather clears for the night, the whole band opens up in Florida, with virtually every station up and down the peninsula strong and clear. I don't know how long it lasts, but I have been up to 2 and 3 in the morning and the band was still open.
I think the "champion" road trip FM is 103.3 out of Santa Barbara. Going north in a car on the 101, I've had it stay in just about all the way to Salinas, if not even farther. For AM, I'd give it to CBK. From far western Ontario to just inside the British Columbia border on the Trans-Canada highway....Daytime!
Best car radio. As a long time traveler, I've rented loads of rental cars. Best radios for my money are typically Toyotas. Most GM/Delco factory radios are also pretty good.
Best car radio. As a long time traveler, I've rented loads of rental cars. Best radios for my money are typically Toyotas. Most GM/Delco factory radios are also pretty good.
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rbrucecarter5
Guest
Agree with those brands. I remember WBAP went all the way to Roswell, NM - DAYTIME! WNOE New Orleans in Abilene. Both Toyota and GM Delco radios take the narrow ceramic filter modification well and turn into DX monsters on FM. Although Delco only has two filters. Toyota has three. Put some matched 150 kHz filters in there and just listen to them go! I remember modding an old Delco with very old 450 kHz wide ceramic filters. Before it would sometimes get two, even three stations on a frequency depending on skip in Florida - completely un-listenable. Put in two matched 150's - wow what a difference! Toyota is hard to mod, their filters are inside a metal case radio module about 2 by 3 inches with 20 or thirty leads into the main board. And two layer at that. If you can get the module off, it is possible to carefully de-solder the metal frame, but do NOT forget about the one ground connection near the middle! That can break the board in half if you try to pry off the metal frame. To make matters worse, it is also a functional ground connection so you can't just clip it. Thankfully they use good old fashioned three lead through hole ceramic filters instead of surface mount, or swapping would be nearly impossible without a hot air desoldering tool. I successfully modified the Toyota radio, really good radio after the mod. They also made some really good C-Quam AM radios back in the day. I wish I had kept one! Even with C-Quam not used any more, the product detectors sound much better than envelope detectors in most AM radios.
The old GM Delcos were the best car radios I ever used. Waaaaay back before there was a 770 in Western Pa, I heard WABC all the way to just outside of Pittsburgh on a drive from NYC to Chicago. It was before 2PM in the afternoon in April. That is not exactly prime ground in Pennsylvania either. Also you could hear 670, then WMAQ all the way to Cleveland from Chicago on one of those radios with a whip antenna.
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I've driven on WOCL very well in South Carolina. It skips in frequently into the Charleston area. Magic 107.7 (WMGF) has an even better signal. I usually get that over the Brunswick, GA station on the frequency during the summer.
Kia Souls have very good car radios (at least the recent ones). Cuba comes in listenably enough on 570 in Charleston to understand what they are talking about. I can also get an urban station on 970 from Florence, nearly 100 miles away pretty well, even with a semi-local on 980.
Kia Souls have very good car radios (at least the recent ones). Cuba comes in listenably enough on 570 in Charleston to understand what they are talking about. I can also get an urban station on 970 from Florence, nearly 100 miles away pretty well, even with a semi-local on 980.
I lived in Tampa for much of my life and the one station that always amazed me was 93.3 FLZ, how far it always had a good signal in the car even past Orlando.
It would start to break up on I-4 between Orlando and Daytona Beach.
My car radio was always a lot more sensitive than any of my portable receivers for FM.
I can't say there was any Orlando station that held out quite as good getting back into Tampa, though.
Here on the Big Island, the Hilo FMs will be lost less than 20 miles north on Rt. 19 along the Hamakua coast because of the terrain and not far after that, some of the Honolulu FMs start coming in from 200 miles away because of the elevation.
Those Toyota stocks are really good, I agree. Our family rented a 2010 Corolla several years ago to visit family here in the Yakima Valley (was still living in Snohomish County at the time). At the property outside Wapato, 91.9 KDNA was a monster signal from about 12 miles away on a ridge. But tuning to 91.7 brought in a very weak KBLD Kennewick on 1800 watts. This was literally right NEXT to the big KDNA signal and with very little slop as well! 90.9 was a mix of KRBM Pendleton and KVTI Tacoma in and out, mind you with KYPL right next door. There was some slop on sidebands of KDBL, KXDD, etc. but not as bad as what would be heard on a Grundig G5.
We have lots of terrain issues. You lose most low-power Yakima signals in Nile WA (25 mi away on WA-410). They come back in and out up into Cliffdell, Goose Prairie and finally on Chinook Pass, where they are finally lost to western WA stations as 410 heads north towards Greenwater. Along I-90 most are gone by Easton (except for KXDD/KFFM and possibly one other, that make it to Snoqualmie Pass). One time I was getting KWHT-103.5 all the way to Stampede Pass on I-90 (165 miles). Around Easton I had KIIX-96.1 Opportunity/Spokane, around 185 miles.
We have lots of terrain issues. You lose most low-power Yakima signals in Nile WA (25 mi away on WA-410). They come back in and out up into Cliffdell, Goose Prairie and finally on Chinook Pass, where they are finally lost to western WA stations as 410 heads north towards Greenwater. Along I-90 most are gone by Easton (except for KXDD/KFFM and possibly one other, that make it to Snoqualmie Pass). One time I was getting KWHT-103.5 all the way to Stampede Pass on I-90 (165 miles). Around Easton I had KIIX-96.1 Opportunity/Spokane, around 185 miles.
When I had CBK from Winnipeg all the way to the BC line in the Canadian Rockies it was in a Toyota Camry with a base stock radio. That was in August of 2014. The stretch between Winnipeg and the Ontario Border I've driven several times, mostly in GM company cars. The Great Plains meets the Canadian Shield area (rocky terrain with horrible ground conductivity) around the Manitoba-Ontario border and CBK then fades rather quickly.
Man I love this type of stuff. 
So nerdy and good. ahahahaha I would agree, WQMP has a bit of a better signal. It's too bad that station is garbage now. I remember back in the late 90s a lot of people in St. Augustine listened to that station over 92.7 The Beat WJBT because at the time, WJHM was more drivable than WJBT. I know they upgraded the 93.3 in Jax. I know it comes in well in St. Aug. before the upgrade, it was tough to hear that in St. Aug.
So nerdy and good. ahahahaha I would agree, WQMP has a bit of a better signal. It's too bad that station is garbage now. I remember back in the late 90s a lot of people in St. Augustine listened to that station over 92.7 The Beat WJBT because at the time, WJHM was more drivable than WJBT. I know they upgraded the 93.3 in Jax. I know it comes in well in St. Aug. before the upgrade, it was tough to hear that in St. Aug.There are times where the 99.7 in Sturgeon Bay (WDKF) can be drivable along US 31 from about Hart to just south of Traverse City. Same with 101.1 WIXX and 105.7 WAPL from Green Bay (although WAPL has some interference in the Hart area via WSRW and a 101.1 translator was just dropped in at Traverse City, so WIXX probably would only make it to around Honor on a good day). There are times that WIXX puts a better signal into Manistee than the local Top 40 station (102.7 WMOM)
Needless to say there's a lot of difference between mountainy East Tennessee and Ohio/Indiana where I spend so much of my life. The bigger stations are needless to say, most driveable but even they suffer from multipath. The smaller Knoxville market stations, namely WNOX 93.1 and WOKI 98.7 can make it all the way to my workplace in Sevierville, but multipath kicks in not far into Sevier County. Heading North those stations make it to about the TN/KY border. Going up in elevation again in Gatlinburg will bring them back in. Higher powered stations. WCYQ 100.3, I've followed to the North Carolina border in a vehicle that doesn't have the best radio. To the north, about Richmond, KY and a little south of Chattanooga. B97.5 and WIMZ will also make it just into North Carolina and past Corbin KY.
If someone could lend me a yacht, I will test drive SiriusXM in various directions.
According to this map, XM-3 and XM-5 cover most of Greenland, Iceland, and
Portugal, plus small parts of Spain and Moroco and just a smidgen of the Emerald Isle.
But of course, they enjoy a really sweet antenna height above average terrain.
According to this map, XM-3 and XM-5 cover most of Greenland, Iceland, and
Portugal, plus small parts of Spain and Moroco and just a smidgen of the Emerald Isle.
But of course, they enjoy a really sweet antenna height above average terrain.
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When I was a kid/teenager, the station to beat was 102.5 WZBQ on the "Tuscaloosa tall tower" west of Birmingham. I believe it 73 kW at around 2062 feet AGL and at the time there was very little elsewhere on the dial to get in its way. The gentle rolling hills of the lower Appalachian mountains to the east meant it suffered from some pretty severe terrain shadowing in the Birmingham metro and points east, but if you stuck with it, it'd be a fairly decent signal to well east of Anniston. After that point, the 102.7 licensed to Fruithurst (playing to west Georgia) would slop over it, but then once you got past that station, 102.5 would waft back in and make it almost all the way to I-285 in Atlanta, a distance of about 160 miles.
Headed south, it was good all the way to Greenville, Alabama (~120 miles) thanks to favorable terrain, along I-65. The west and north were the less impressive directions; I never remember hearing it much past the AL/TN line on I-65 or west of Tupelo (95 miles) in Mississippi. It was practically a local in Meridian, though. This would have been ~1994 or thereabouts.
Not too long afterwards Clear Channel flipped the station to a country music format, then moved it into Birmingham-proper, with much lower power and HAAT. The era of it being a big signal was over. An honorable mention big FM signal would go to WZZK in Birmingham. It seemed to be the best-performing FM signal actually in the market, with a lot of resistance to multipath that plagues some of the other signals.
As for AM, the ultimate drive-able signal for me was always the daytime signal of WCRV in Memphis. 640 kHz, 50 kW and ground conductivity that was pretty darn good meant it was a rock solid signal from Jackson, Mississippi to Ste. Genevieve in Missouri, roughly 200 miles north and south from the TX site. If not for 630 in St. Louis I'm certain it'd make it partly into that metro as well.
When I lived in central Mississippi, even with a broken antenna/amp on my car, WCRV was an easy catch at 100 miles out. There were plenty of places in rural Mississippi where it was the only viable thing on AM with that gimped radio setup.
Speaking of St. Louis, that city has some of the most robust and "drive-able" HD signals of any market I've been in over the years. Granted, the sheer distance one achieves with FM HD is nothing compared to the analog, but I remember all the FM HD being robust and completely dropout free — with nothing more than a portable radio inside a car — all around the city on the I-270/I-255 loop. Several of them were strong enough to stay (mostly) locked all the way to Hermann, Missouri, about 60 miles from the sticks. Again, not impressive by regular analog standards, but still some of the best HD I've gotten with the little Insignia portable inside the car.
An honorable mention goes to my local iHeart country station "95 KSJ" in Mobile, who operates at higher HD power and has a good I-10 signal between Crestview and Pascagoula, about 60 miles in either direction.
Headed south, it was good all the way to Greenville, Alabama (~120 miles) thanks to favorable terrain, along I-65. The west and north were the less impressive directions; I never remember hearing it much past the AL/TN line on I-65 or west of Tupelo (95 miles) in Mississippi. It was practically a local in Meridian, though. This would have been ~1994 or thereabouts.
Not too long afterwards Clear Channel flipped the station to a country music format, then moved it into Birmingham-proper, with much lower power and HAAT. The era of it being a big signal was over. An honorable mention big FM signal would go to WZZK in Birmingham. It seemed to be the best-performing FM signal actually in the market, with a lot of resistance to multipath that plagues some of the other signals.
As for AM, the ultimate drive-able signal for me was always the daytime signal of WCRV in Memphis. 640 kHz, 50 kW and ground conductivity that was pretty darn good meant it was a rock solid signal from Jackson, Mississippi to Ste. Genevieve in Missouri, roughly 200 miles north and south from the TX site. If not for 630 in St. Louis I'm certain it'd make it partly into that metro as well.
When I lived in central Mississippi, even with a broken antenna/amp on my car, WCRV was an easy catch at 100 miles out. There were plenty of places in rural Mississippi where it was the only viable thing on AM with that gimped radio setup.
Speaking of St. Louis, that city has some of the most robust and "drive-able" HD signals of any market I've been in over the years. Granted, the sheer distance one achieves with FM HD is nothing compared to the analog, but I remember all the FM HD being robust and completely dropout free — with nothing more than a portable radio inside a car — all around the city on the I-270/I-255 loop. Several of them were strong enough to stay (mostly) locked all the way to Hermann, Missouri, about 60 miles from the sticks. Again, not impressive by regular analog standards, but still some of the best HD I've gotten with the little Insignia portable inside the car.
An honorable mention goes to my local iHeart country station "95 KSJ" in Mobile, who operates at higher HD power and has a good I-10 signal between Crestview and Pascagoula, about 60 miles in either direction.
WOKV on 690 is one of the most driveable AM signals on the East Coast. If you follow US 17 and I-95, you can hear it from Melbourne, FL (or maybe even farther S) to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. WOKV sounds almost like a local in Charleston, and is an easy pickup in Myrtle Beach and Wilmington, NC. That's about 550 miles total.
WFAN is another very driveable AM signal. You can hear it most of the way from Cape Hatteras and Virginia Beach, VA all the way into Massachusetts daytime, and farther in the winter. Those two AM signals can carry you through most of the East Coast if you drive the coastal route (US 17 to US 13 to the Cape May Ferry to the Garden State Pkwy then 95).
WFAN is another very driveable AM signal. You can hear it most of the way from Cape Hatteras and Virginia Beach, VA all the way into Massachusetts daytime, and farther in the winter. Those two AM signals can carry you through most of the East Coast if you drive the coastal route (US 17 to US 13 to the Cape May Ferry to the Garden State Pkwy then 95).
WCRV easily makes it to the southern tip of Illinois. 560, 600, and 680 from Memphis all are still audible at Cairo, IL....the southernmost point in the state. But they all fade rather quickly. WCRV is listenable for about an additional 50-60 miles along I-57. You're definitely right about "95 KSJ" having a monster signal. I seem to recall having heard it rather clearly in Destin not long ago. I also once had then WAHV 96.9 from Mobile all the way on a 160-mile drive along I-65 to Montgomery. Actually, the full distance for the signal was probably 130 or so miles, assuming they were using one of the TV towers near Loxley. I'm also guessing that there was probably tropo involved.
And what about WWL? More or less listenable daytime for 600-ish miles from NOLA to Fort Myers until you run into their null (notwithstanding the 860 in the Tampa Bay area).
Sorry, I meant 96.1. My bad.
Oh okay, that makes sense. Yeah, it (WRKH) and 99.9 (WMXC) are on the WKRG TV tower in Spanish Fort and are around 1700 feet HAAT, the highest FMs in the metro area. 97.5 WABD and 91.3 WHIL are on that tower too but not as high up, I don't think. The others over on the towers east of Loxley are about a hundred feet shorter if I remember correctly.
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